Speaking after a meeting with the Queen to formally dissolve parliament ahead of the election, May said in a statement delivered outside Downing Street that she believes: "There are some in Brussels who don't want Britain to prosper."

In recent days "Britain's negotiating position has been misrepresented in the European press," May said.

"The events of the last few days have shown that some in Brussels do not want these talks to succeed."

Sterling — which fell in morning trade, before recovering to close to flat early in the afternoon — dropped sharply during the statement, falling below the $1.29 mark in the process to trade at $1.2892 as of around 3.50 p.m. BST, a fall of 0.37% from the open.